Chapter 244 Shilov's New Year Festival
The coal stove was burning brightly, the heat wave and the humid cold air offset each other at the window, and a layer of water mist condensed on the window lattice.
Sitting in front of the window, Shilov's fingers holding the quill were cold from the cold.
The ink flowed along the tip of the pen and onto the hemp paper, smearing out a large ink stain, but she didn't seem to see it and was still looking at the wall in a daze.
It wasn't until the firewood in the coal stove made a crackling sound that Shilov was awakened from his distraction.
Lowering her head and looking at the ink stains on the paper, Shilov didn't make any expression, and she didn't know what expressions were.
Her mother never showed expressions, and the puppets and Ah Fu, her relatives and friends, also did not show expressions.
When she got to know Horn and these unexpected guests, she realized that humans actually have so many facial movements to express emotions.
Throwing the used paper aside, Shilov asked Afu to shovel a shovelful of peat into the coal stove.
The entire manor villa was empty, not many people stayed, almost all went to the small town on the other side of the Para River.
Before she went to the study to write "Holy Word of Salvation", she had been reading it on the terrace for a long time.
When loud cheers erupted from the theater, she knew that there were villagers and citizens performing a show.
When the loud shouts and curses broke out later, she knew that it must be the scoring session of the six elders.
After that, after the octagonal cage battle ended, after the remnants of Sarkis’s defense of “I put it on his nose and didn’t hit him”, the melodious sound of the flute sounded.
Shilov knew that it was the dance described in the book, but the one in the book was a dance for nobles, but here it was a dance for common people.
Such a bustling and bustling scenery is not her own.
Going downstairs, Shilov wandered aimlessly in the palace, dark corridors, stiff puppets, and curtains blown by the wind.
Everything seems to have returned to the time before Horn arrived.
"Afu, I'm walking around by myself, don't follow me."
Shilov gave the order to Afu, and the loyal and blind blood slave let go of his wheelchair. handle.
Passing through the garden, passing by little angels with birds flying around, going down the elevated water channel, the wheels of the wheelchair rolled over the withered grass that was dry in the cold.
Dark clouds covered the night, without revealing any starlight or moonlight. Shilov was walking aimlessly in the garden alone.
This garden palace is so different from a month ago. For example, in the original open space, a laboratory shed for the clockwork gun was erected. In the corner of the courtyard, there are still a few piles of messy parts. .
There are also a few hardworking craftsmen who are busy adjusting a big clock in front of the main hall.
According to Horn, one of the big bells will be placed in the prayer house, one in the Mechanical Palace, one in the military camp, and one in the workshop area.
The four big clocks corrected each other's time. Shilov took a look when he passed by. According to Horn's 12-hour timekeeping method, it was now past 11 o'clock at night.
After walking in the darkness for an unknown amount of time, Shilov realized that he had arrived at the gate of the palace unknowingly.
The brass rooster outside the door is still broken, but Shilov did not dare to touch or repair it because it was outside the door.
The spacious door was open, and two guards stood guard at the door.
Looking outside, you can still see some craftsmen carrying something and running back and forth on the small bridge over the Para River.
Turning the wheelchair, Shilov stopped a foot away from the door, staring at the steps and pillars quietly.
Stiff fingers grasped the rim of the wheelchair, and the wolf girl mechanically pushed her forearm like a puppet.
The wheels turned slowly, actually pushing Shilov towards the door little by little.
The cold wind blew the down on the wolf's ears swaying from side to side. She stretched herself straight in the wheelchair, her tail covering her thighs, and the hair on her tail seemed to explode.
One inch, two inches, three inches, the edge of the wooden wheel is getting closer and closer to the line at the door, and finally, only a short inch of space is left.
But the wheel seemed to be locked, and Shilov seemed to have hit a wall of air. The area in front could no longer move forward, and she just froze in place.
She smelled the smell of blood. That night, the long red sword scratched her knee. In the pink flesh, she saw her gray leg bones.
The two white calves were bitten off by Ah Fu under the command of A Ma. She could only raise her head so that she could see outside through the doorway and not see her empty legs.
From then on, she fell in love with reading, because books could take her wherever her legs could not.
"Ah - that's a bit of progress." Shilov murmured to himself as if to comfort himself, and began to turn the hand wheel upside down, "I must go out this time next year."
Pushing the wheelchair hard, Shilov turned around and walked towards the palace.
“Afu, Afu!”
Shilof called Afu’s name, but felt a rush of footsteps behind her.
She turned her body sideways and turned her head, only to see Jeanna rushing towards her like an ox-headed cart.
"Jeanna, why are you here? Tonight...ah——" Before Shilov could finish her words, Jeanna suddenly made a big jump and passed her hands through the wheelchair and raised them above her head.
"It's too late to explain." Jeanne lifted Shilov high into the air and rushed toward the villa with long strides.
Sitting in a wheelchair, Shilov finally understood what the book said about the feeling of a small boat in stormy seas. She held the armrests of the wheelchair tightly, her tail was tucked under her buttocks, and her back was pressed against the wheelchair, for fear of falling from such a height.
The wheelchair moved forward at high speed, and the cold wind blew against my face.
Shilov's nose moved. She barely poked her head out from the edge of the wheelchair and sniffed again: "Jeanna, have you drank?!"
"A few small glasses of mead mixed with potato root wine." Jeanna's little face turned red and she smiled silly, "Come on, hurry up, I'll show you something good."
Shilof sat down in fear. In the wheelchair, he was helplessly carried by Jeanne who drank too much and ran wildly.
When Jeanne jumped into the main palace gate, Shilov even felt her butt leave the cushion for a second.
While panning up and down, Shilov and Jeanne finally arrived at their destination - the terrace.
Due to the height of the middle door, Jeanne had no choice but to put Shilov down and push her to the terrace.
"Jean, why did you bring me here?"
"You'll know just by looking at it." With her hands on her hips, Jeanna confidently pushed Shilov to the edge of the terrace.
Shilof turned her head helplessly and looked forward, and then she froze.
The Mechanical Palace is located on a small mound, and below the mound, a long queue of torches and lanterns is slowly coming along the slope.
Thousands of young men and women, still with the passion and joy of the dance, were filled with expressions that Shilov had never seen before.
Walking at the forefront was Horn holding a torch high.
Under Horn's guidance, these subjects of the Papal State entered the Mechanical Palace for the first time, passed through the gardens and pools, walked past the Ether Spire, and arrived in front of the Mechanical Palace.
“Boom!”
Shilov heard the sound of the walnut mechanical clock, which represented 11:59 pm on December 31, 1444.
Thousands of young men and women gathered in the Mechanical Palace. The originally empty and dark palace was instantly filled with noisy voices and dancing firelights.
Many people saw Jeanne and Shirov on the terrace. Some of them knew the two saints, and they all raised their hands high and waved at them.
"Your Highness Jeanne, I am here!"
"Your Highness, come down and countdown together."
"Your Highness Shilov, let's play together and I will teach you how to dance. .”
Jeanna stretched out her upper body from the terrace, greeted them happily and answered their questions.
Holding on to the handrail at the edge of the terrace, Shilov looked at the young people of the Papal State below, her tail and ears falling limply.
"Countdown, countdown." Horn shouted, and under his leadership, all the young men and women present shouted.
“Five!”
“Four!”
“Three!”
"Two!"
"One!"
"Boom——"
The New Year's bell rang suddenly, and everyone present cheered and hugged each other: "Happy New Year's Day!"
"Happy New Year's Day! Shilov!" Jeanne raised her hands and cheered, turned around and hugged Shilov who was sitting in the wheelchair, and asked drunkenly He said, "This is a New Year's Day gift that Horn and I gave you. How do you like it? Do you like it?"
"..."
"Shilov, you, are you laughing?"
"This, is this a smile?" In the fluctuating firelight, Shilov's original playing card A stiff smile appeared on her ordinary face. She touched the corners of her raised mouth and asked, "Is this a smile?"
Jeanna did not answer Shilov's question. Instead, the subjects below were confused. shouted.
"What was that just now? Is it raining?"
"No, it's snow."
"It's snowing, it's snowing!"
Everyone raised their heads and looked toward the sky.
Almost almost together with the sound of the bell, one snowflake after another slowly fell from the dark clouds in the night sky.
The first snow in 1445 came quietly at the end of 1444.
(End of this chapter)